Velouria
by ghost girl 1920
Summary: I sincerely hope that the next time he sees me, in our final hour and goodbye, he wraps his cold hands around my neck. All ten fingers wrapped around my throat in style as he prays for the courage of his thumbs to press down, "The life may leave my lungs, but my heart will stay with you". GIME.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello! The title and basic concept of the story is based on Velouria by Pixies. **

Chapter One

My father drove me through town with the windows down. The skin on my thighs stuck to the seat in the Texas heat. As a teenager, I never imagined that I would still be here, with him, in my mid-twenties. Much less having him drive me to and from work for the last four days.

I was thankful, very thankful, for his help. But I craved independence. Much like a flame, I could see it growing more and more each day, and soon it would engulf me like a raging fire. But that day was too far away, and right now I am a twenty-five-year-old that feels like a fifteen-year-old.

I obviously didn't continue to live with him by choice, it was more convenience. Grad school was demanding, and my part time job at a local clothing store wouldn't cover most of the expenses required from moving out. I could have moved in with my cousin Henry, it had always been an option. He was a year older than me and a struggling actor. My anxiety wouldn't let me take that chance. What would we do if he couldn't come up with his portion one month? I knew he resorted to selling weed when that happened without me living there, and the last thing I needed was for my living space to be swarmed by the cops should an angry ex-girlfriend decide to rat him out. Despite my impatience, living at home was the best option for me.

I liked the solitude of it as well. My dad would leave for days at a time to work on our small family ranch an hour out of town. Most of the time, I had no one to answer to. Those days I felt like I could at least pretend to have my shit together.

"Your car gets out of the shop tomorrow, right?" He glanced over at me. His blue eyes hidden behind round sunglasses that sat on the bridge of his sunburned nose.

"Supposed to," I answered back lazily. My car was only two years old, a graduation gift from my dad. It was the first new car I had ever owned, and it was giving me way more problems than I would have expected. At this point, I would have much preferred my old 2003 Camry. It had its moments, but at least I could count on it.

He shook his head and turned down the road that led to our street, "It needs to. I'm leaving tomorrow night."

Though it was almost eight in the evening the sun had just begun to set, and small children where beginning to put their toys and bikes back in the garage for the night. "If it's not I can get Henry to drive me."

My dad sighed, a hint of frustration gracing his voice. "I don't understand why you didn't just get a rental."

"It wouldn't have been worth it." And it wouldn't have. It was summer break, so I had no classes to attend. I wasn't in the mood to go out with any of my friends, and to be honest I didn't think they were either. No one had even messaged me in the last few days, so my social life wasn't much of a concern. Work was my only real responsibility, and paying two hundred dollars for a car I would only drive in twice a day was not something I wanted to do.

When we finally parked, I grabbed my purse and made my way to my room as quickly as possible. I was exhausted. I knew this meant things were getting worse. My mental health was deteriorating again, but I was determined to hang on. Depression wasn't anything new to me. It had been the monster under my bed since puberty. Working a five-hour shift drained me more than it should have, and I was ready to fall into my bed and sleep for the next twelve to make up for it. But I wouldn't let myself. I forced myself into the shower and began to scrub my body under the scalding heat.

I never felt clean, no matter how hot the water was. How hard I scrubbed or how much soap I used didn't matter. It never felt good enough. I don't know why this was, and if I did, I would fix it immediately. I think it's from growing up hearing that all fat people smelled a certain way. I wasn't fat. I knew that. But I had gained more than a few pounds in the last few years and I was far from skinny. I was pushing fat.

This only made things worse for me. I didn't think that having gained weight made me uglier, but I knew to others it didn't make me prettier. This was confirmed in the fact that I hadn't been able to get a date for the last five years. I didn't try a lot though, in my own defense. And if it did work out, the guy always ended up being an absolute freak. It was easier to just give up in the love department. I didn't have time for it anyway, I needed to focus on my career.

Stepping out of the shower, I began to brush my waist length brown hair. It was overgrown and unruly. The last time I had really cut it was three years ago, and I had the ends bleached to fade into blonde. I kept it because it still looked good, even three years after it looked like I had just gotten it done. Like I cared about my appearance at least a little. Though I liked my hair long, I had debated cutting it above my shoulders. It was naturally curly, but the length had weighed it down to soft waves. It also was becoming too hot to manage in the summer heat. I ended up not cutting it because, with my weight gain, I had lost my cheekbones and acquired quite the round face. I felt like the long hair helped me appear older and it had become a bit of a security blanket for me.

There were several things I liked about myself though, and every night I had made them a point to note. It seemed that calling out my perfections just as much as I called out my imperfections actually helped my self-confidence. Who knew? My lips were full and always pink. Unlike many girls my age, I didn't desire fillers to make them bigger. My nose was straight, even though I had broken it a few years back in a tragic backyard pool party accident. I had inherited my bright blue eyes from my father's side of the family, and they were something everyone commented on. If there was one thing I was sure of, it was that I had beautiful eyes. My skin had begun to clear up after a year long fight with acne, and the redness I carried in my cheeks had begun to fade to a pale pink.

I finished moisturizing my face and glanced on the cat shaped cuckoo clock that hung from my wall. Two hours had passed since I arrived home. Ten seemed like a perfectly reasonable time to head off to bed but even if it wasn't, I would have laid down anyway.

My nights had been dreamless for a few months. I didn't think anything of it, just that it was sort of weird to never dream at all. I had read somewhere that if you didn't think of your dream within five seconds of waking you would forget you dreamt completely. I figured that was just what had been happening to me.

But then last Monday I did dream, and I remembered it. It wasn't the dream that was strange. It was that I had had the same exact one every single night since then. Almost as soon as I feel asleep, I suddenly woke up in a large clearing. The sun wasn't out, but it wasn't dark. In fact, it looked to be just after sunset or before dawn. Trees taller than I had ever seen stood around me in almost a circle. A small stream was about twenty feet to my right, the sound of slowly moving water and soft wind through the trees was the only thing that I could hear. I was alone.

It was the clearest dream I had ever had. It almost felt like I was really there. I could feel the soft grass beneath me, the wind moving the stray hair around my face. Looking down, I realized I was in different clothes than what I had went to bed in. I was in a loose-fitting white dress that stopped just at my knees and my feet were bare. I would have been scared; I should have been. But something was telling me I had no reason to be. I felt more relaxed and at peace than I ever have before. A part of me truly believed I was dreaming of Heaven, though I didn't believe it to be so dark.

I didn't move from my spot on the ground. It seemed just as I was about to stand up, I would wake up. Upon waking I would always try to force myself back to sleep in order to continue the dream and go back, but I could never.

I had told Henry about it in passing a few days ago. He was convinced that it was some kind of alien abduction scenario. Though I laughed at that, a part of me believed it. If I could feel like I was really alive inside of my dream, like it was a reality, what were the odds that some alien race was just playing me some weird movie while toying with my insides every night. It would have explained not being able to get up before the dream was over.

But tonight was different. I felt it the moment I woke up inside my personal utopia. Something new would happen. I decided not to wait this time, and immediately tried to stand, a smile gracing my face when I succeeded.

I walked to the edge of the stream and looked in. I was almost surprised to see that physically I was still myself and unchanged. I heard the wind begin to pick up, the leaves frantically dancing with its song. Turning, I looked back into the forest past the clearing and made my way to a tree that's trunk was larger than the others. Running my hand over the bark I felt a tingle begin to make its way through my fingers into my hand.

"Interesting."

I jumped back as soon as I heard the voice. I wanted to scream. I tried but nothing would come out. The voice wasn't carried by the air around me. It was inside of my head, but it wasn't my own. It sounded as though it belonged to a woman, much older and wiser than me. I spun in circles, searching in vain for the source before the air around me began to glisten. As it always did before I awoke.

Everything went black and the annoying sound of my alarm filled my ears.


	2. Chapter 2

The next couple of nights went by uneventfully. I never heard the woman's voice again, but I could still move without waking. I used this time to explore my dreamscape. It seemed that the second I tried to leave the clearing I would wake up. Each night consisted of me trying and failing to leave the small prison, as relaxing as it was. What was the point of realistic dreams if I was stuck in the same small space every night with nothing exciting happening?

Henry stared over at me from a chair in the small movie room of my father's house. It had become a ritual for us. When my father was gone Henry would come over to keep me company. At least that's what he said. Really it was because he wanted all you can drink beer, free range of the pantry, and to watch his favorite movies on the big screen in private. Tonight, we had settled upon Night of the Living Dead. It was a movie we had seen a million times but it was one of our favorites. The credits began to roll and I looked over at Henry, feeling his stare from across the room.

"Do you have something to say?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. Henry scoffed and turned his head to the side.

"Have you had anymore abduction dreams?"

I shook my head, "They aren't abduction dreams, idiot." I stood to stretch my body and walked over to the DVD player that was hidden beneath where the screen stopped. Putting the movie back in its case I turned back around to look at him. His red hair was only about two inches long and sat on his head messily. He looked as though he hadn't shaved in a month. If I am being honest, he looked exactly like the stereotypical UFO nerd. He knew this though, and didn't care. Instead he leaned into it.

"Come on," Henry guzzled the rest of his beer before continuing. "Dreams that feel like you're really in them? What kind of shit is that but an abduction?"

I laughed as I stood. "I don't know." I put the DVD case back on the shelf and turned to face him once again. "It could be a haunting or something. Maybe it's the beginning of a possession?" Though I laughed, this was something that had crossed my mind a few times. I still didn't think much of the dreams in my waking life. They were strange, but it didn't seem to be of much concern. When they did become an object of my curiosity the only answers I could come up with were ones that scared me. So, I tried not to think of them too much.

"That would make sense. Remember when you first moved here? When we were teenagers?" I swallowed hard and walked back over to my seat, pulling my legs beneath me. I knew what he was talking about.

My first night in this house had gone by smoothly. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, not that I had expected it to. Luckily, with the help of movers it only took one very long day to unpack everything but a few lone boxes. It was a bigger house than the one we had lived in before, and the extra space made me weary. Not to mention, I had been seventeen and was still scared of the dark. The next night, however, was different.

I woke up suddenly and immediately rolled over from my side, facing the ceiling. Waking up several times in the night was nothing new for me, I had always had a hard time sleeping. The air around me felt different, more threatening. I felt like someone was watching me. I took a couple of deep breathes and waited a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the darkness before moving to look around my large room. My eyes landed on the figure almost as soon as I pulled them from the ceiling. It looked almost like a man, a very tall one, standing just a foot from my bed staring down at me. I could make out no details aside from the glowing eyes that pierced through the darkness. I felt as though he was looking into my soul. I had tried to move, but it was in vain. It wasn't until a hand reached towards me that a scream escaped my lips. The figure suddenly disappeared and the terror left the room. Next thing I knew, I had fallen back into a deep, dreamless sleep.

When I woke up the next morning, I pushed it aside as just being an upsetting nightmare. But my father informed me that he had heard me scream. It took him a minute or so to make it to my room but when he did, I had already fallen back asleep and he had decided to leave me alone.

"I don't think that has any relation, Henry. Do you really think a demon would be dormant for like seven years before beginning his possession?"

Henry picked up a piece of popcorn that had fallen to his stomach sometime during the movie and popped it into his mouth, "Dude I don't know. Has anything else happened or are you still just stuck in a weird ass field?"

I began to tell Henry of the dream I had a few nights ago, how it was different from the others. He nodded his head along listening as I explained that if I even stuck a finger past the clearing into the trees I would immediately wake up. "All my dreams have been like that for like, the last week. The only difference was the first night I could move I heard a woman's voice in my head but it wasn't my own."

With this, Henry jumped from his seat, spare pieces of popcorn flying from his body like someone had just broken a pinata. He hunched his back, holding his hands out in front of him, "Why didn't you lead with that? What the fuck?"

I rolled my eyes, "Does it offer any new explanations or is your reaction unwarranted?"

He stood up straight and began pacing the room in front of me, fingers running through his hair. "What did she say?"

"Interesting."

He stopped walking and looked at me like I had lost my mind, "That's it? Really?"

Honestly, I had thought it was strange to. It was a peculiar thing to say, if the voice wasn't my own conscious talking back to me. I had played around with the idea that maybe I had been dreaming of Heaven and that not only was God actually a woman, that she did find my little "escape to Heaven" cheat interesting. The idea was too far fetched for me to even truly believe.

I nodded, "Yea. I woke up after that. I haven't heard the voice since then either."

Henry put a hand to his chin and stared off into space for a few seconds before he spoke again. "I have an idea. Maybe something different will happen tonight. We can sleep in here; I'll stay up and watch you."

"Why on Earth do you need to watch me sleep?"

He threw his hands in the air and spun in a circle dramatically, "to see if you're being abducted, duh."

"With all the beer you've already drunk you will see something regardless if it really happens or not," I said as I reclined back in the chair, pulling a small blanket to my chest. It was pretty late, somewhere close to three in the morning I would bet. I could feel myself getting more tired as the conversation went on.

Henry had walked over to the selection of DVDs that lined the wall and stood with his back to me, trying to choose the next one we would watch. I knew it would just be another horror movie. Henry wasn't really the romcom kind of guy, and tonight didn't seem like one for comedy. "You doubt me," he said as he walked back towards me holding up a copy of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

"No," I shook my head, "I doubt your ability to pick out a decent fucking movie." He let out a laugh as he settled into the seat beside me, closer than he was before. Leaning over, his hand came over my face and he made a move as though he was trying to close my eyelids without even touching them. "You are feeling very sleepy, sleep now." He had adopted the voice that I would have imagined Rumpelstiltskin to have, a high pitched but grizzly sound leaving his throat.

I shuddered and closed my eyes are the opening credits began to play, "You know I hate that voice. I don't know how you expect me to sleep with all this noise either." Henry let out a small laugh, "you'll be fine."

It wasn't long until I actually did fall asleep. It started out the same as normal, me 'waking up' on my back in the clearing. I began to lift myself up off the ground, and stretched my arms up over my head. The wind was different today, calmer than it usually was. The stream's current was barely audible. I spun around slowly and surveyed my surroundings. Everything looked to be the same until I saw it.

Just past the tree line there looked to be a glimpse of white. It hadn't been there before, and the contrast against the deep green of the trees was shocking. I walked slowly towards it, not wanted to upset whatever system that was in place that kept me from waking. As I got closer, I could see more, the outline of what looked to be a tall body facing away from me. Whatever it was didn't seem to notice me coming up behind it, but if it did it made no acknowledgement of me approaching.

Stopping just before the wall of trees begun, I looked at the humanoid that was a few feet away from me. Long, white hair hung from its scalp stopping a few inches from the middle of its back, a few different braids were visible. It had broad shoulders that thinned out around the waist. The figure was about a foot taller than me from where we were standing. I couldn't see much skin, as it looked as though it was wearing a long-sleeved green dress with plain leggings on underneath. The skin I did see was a pale white.

I debated speaking for several minutes. If I tried, I might wake up, and who knew if this being would be here the next time I fell asleep. I wondered if this was the source of the voice in my head. Had it been there watching me through the trees every night? If so, why was I just now noticing it tonight? Why was it facing away from me? Unmoving?

I wondered what it's face looked like. If it even had one. A part of me was terrified of what I would see should it turn around. There were a million different obscene things my brain could create for a face, and having just watched several horror movies I didn't want to give it that ability. What if it turned around and all I saw was an alien grinning back at me? Would it say, "your cousin was right. Oh yeah, we abducted him to. He's loving it."?

The thing suddenly lifted up it's hand, observing it as though it was the first time it had ever seen such a thing. This did nothing to calm me, if anything the revelation that it could move only made me more scared. I had no idea how to protect myself if it meant to harm me. It raised its head and looked up towards the tops of the trees it stood under, letting its hand fall back to its side. I decided to put some more distance between us before it realized someone else was there with it, if it didn't already know. I began to walk backwards, slowly, when a small twig broke beneath my foot.

I saw it then, out of the corner of my eye. The grass beneath me had begun to sparkle. In a few seconds I would wake up, without knowing what this thing was. Just as everything around me began to fade into darkness the humanoid began to turn around. I saw only the movement of its hair before everything went black.

"What the fuck!" I heard Henry screaming before I even opened my eyes. It only took a few seconds for me to gain feeling in my limbs and I jumped up. The only thing I could think was that maybe we had been abducted and I finally woke up during the action in my real life.

But all I saw was Henry, soaked in beer sitting in the same chair he was in when I fell asleep. "Is there a reason you had to scream?" I asked glaring over at him when I realized everything was alright. He shook his head and began to stand, setting the bottle on the floor beside him. "I fell asleep and I guess I forgot I had a beer in my hand."

"I told you that you would fall asleep."

He glared up at me before ripping his wet shirt off. I grimaced when his hairy, protruding belly came into my line of site. Noticing his he smirked and started shaking his body so that it would jiggle. I pretended to gag and he smiled before speaking again. "Nothing happened, I only fell asleep like an hour ago anyway."

"Someone was there this time."

He stopped smiling and walked closer to me, "What did they look like? Did they say anything?"

Grabbing the hair tie on my wrist I started to pull my hair back and into a ponytail like I always did when something was bothering me. I shrugged and began to walk from the room, noticing through the windows in the hallway that the sun had just begun to rise. "It wasn't facing me. It was turning towards me when you decided to yell."

He was following me, trailing behind me like a puppy begging for food. "But it still didn't say anything?"

We walked into the kitchen and I pulled two plastic water bottles from the fridge, "I don't think it even knew I was there until the very end." Henry pulled himself up in the tall barstool that stood behind the kitchen's bar, his short frame causing him to struggle to get situated.

"What did it look like?"

Handing him a water bottle, he nodded in thanks before I went on to describe the figure. The more I spoke the wider his eyes became. It wasn't until I mentioned the hair, which I decided to save for last, that he nearly fell out of his seat.

"A fucking Nordic." He spoke quietly, I could barely hear him.

"Excuse me?"

"You saw a fucking Nordic alien!" Henry had jumped from the stool now, sending it flying backwards. I shuddered at the sound as he came running around the bar to me in the kitchen. He grabbed my arms and stared up at me. I wasn't a tall girl; in fact, I was considered about average standing at five and a half feet tall. Henry however, was a below average, short man, being an inch or two shorter than me. "You don't understand how big this is!"

"Are you telling me you think that there are races of aliens? What is a Nordic alien even?

His mouth hung open and he looked up at me wide eyed for a few moments. He let go of my arms and stepped only a few inches back. I almost thought I had offended him with the question. "Yes, there are races of aliens. They look like Hitler's dream. Long light hair, pale skin, tall, all of that."

"How do you even get laid?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "I have low standards."

I pushed him away from me, "No, I don't think it was an alien at all. I think it's just weird fucking dreams."

He walked in circles around me, both hands held on the top of his head. "I don't get it, I've always wanted to see an alien, and you don't even believe in them and you get to. I was right there the whole time!"

I sighed, "And that is why it is not an alien, Henry."

He walked away from me, towards the hallway to the guest room. I followed him this time, stopping just outside his door. He turned back to me, "I can't believe you don't think this is something weird that is happening to you at all."

I wrapped my arms around my body. I did think it was something weird. It did bother me, and to be honest I wished it hadn't been happening to me. I would gladly give whatever it was to Henry, so that he could pretend he was in an alien world as much as he wanted to. The truth was, I woke up everyday exhausted. It was like I hadn't even slept the night before. I didn't know how much longer I could go on with these dreams before I succumbed to sleep deprivation. I didn't have the dreams if I took quick naps throughout the day, but I could only give myself so much of those. I didn't speak again before walking to my room and falling onto my bed, into a dreamless sleep.

Every night for the next week I had the same dream. The humanoid was still there, but I would always wake up just as it started to turn towards me. I had started to notice that each night it would try to turn sooner, like it had finally realized it was in the same world every night and was expecting me. A part of me felt bad for it. At least I knew nothing was behind me. If it was aware I was there I couldn't imagine the fear it was living in knowing that something was a few feet away from it and it couldn't even move to see if it was something potentially threatening.

In my spare time I had taken up to researching whatever I could about dreams. I couldn't be the first person this happened to. I had heard before of people getting song melodies or art inspirations from dreams, but it was just my luck that I was getting stuck in a dull field fighting with time to see who else had been stuck with me. I wasn't very surprised when I couldn't find any explanations besides Greek mythology message boards and creepypasta. Eventually my curiosity got the best of me and I decided to look into Nordic aliens.

I found some interesting things, like that there was a theory in the science community that reported abductions were just vivid dreams. But that didn't help me. I knew I was dreaming; I just wanted an explanation for why it felt so real. There were a few logical explanations that I could find, like stress had finally broken my brain.

It was Friday night and Henry had convinced me to go with him to some party out in the country. There was a factory that had been abandoned in the 20's that was now seen by partygoers as the perfect place to avoid cops while throwing the type of party you would only see in films. We drove through dark back roads for about twenty minutes before I finally saw the light of a huge bonfire. I laughed, "You know my mom used to tell me this is where Satanists held their sacrifices?"

Henry threw his head back and let out a hearty laugh, "Do you think she'd be surprised to find us here tonight?"

My mother had been a very religious woman, when it suited her. My father, on the other hand, never really spoke of God in our house though I knew he was a Christian. During my teenage years, I had decided to look at all forms of religion before committing myself to one. I never landed on an answer, there were good and bad things about them all. Henry however had decided he didn't believe in anything, and called himself a Satanist only around the older people he came across as a way to try to scare them.

"I don't think she would be," I said fixing my hair before opening the car door. Before getting out I looked over at Henry, "She always thought you were a bad influence."

The light from the fire illuminated the old building eerily. Even though there looked to be about fifty other people around us, I didn't feel comfortable. Orgy's version of Blue Monday assaulted my ears as I walked closer to the mass of people, Henry almost running behind me to catch up.

"Well if it isn't Little Miss Eisley!" A big, burly man walked from a small group that stood by the fire towards Henry and I. "How did you drag her out of the cave, Henry?" The man held his arms open and I walked into them, welcoming the familiar embrace.

Growing up, I wasn't short on friends. I had always been close to Henry and the friends we made separately always seemed to mesh together in one way or another. Eddie had been my friend first. A few years older than me we met when I had started my first job at a local diner. Eddie had been a cook, and the only one with a sense of humor. It didn't take long for him to become like a big brother to me, and the second I introduced him to Henry the bond between the three of us had been formed.

"I knocked her out and threw her in the car." I saw a few people I didn't know give Henry dirty looks and eye me wearily.

Eddie released me and threw his arms up in the air, "Of course! How else would you get her to come see us?" I had been avoiding everyone lately. It wasn't because I didn't care for them, I was just so exhausted. Even without the dreams it had been hard for me to find energy to do anything.

A girl taller than me ran up and wrapped her lean arms around Henry's neck suddenly. I raised an eyebrow when I saw his face turn red, intrigued by the display. He rubbed his hand on the small of her back before taking her hand and pulling her away. The woman was out of Henry's league. Like, miles. Probably an ocean. But she had acted like he was the finest piece of jewelry she had ever seen. She was probably around six feet tall, red hair brushing her shoulders.

I stood stunned as Eddie began to laugh, "That's Katy. Her and Henry have been talking for awhile now." Eddie put his arm on my shoulder and lead me towards the fire. "He didn't tell you about her?"

I shook my head, "Guess it just didn't come up for us!" I felt like a bad friend. A bad cousin. Here he was playing his cards with the most gorgeous woman he would probably ever get and all we ever talked about was my weird dreams. When I began to look back on the past couple month, I realized we hadn't been talking about his life much at all.

I spent the next few hours conversing with friends I had avoided for the last few weeks. I couldn't help but feel awkward as they told me about all the exciting things happening in their life and when asked about myself all I could report back was that I worked and slept. If my day was super exciting, I would even take myself to the movies.

Eventually I separated myself from my small group of friends and found a seat alone on the steps of the factory. I lifted the bottle of beer up to my lips and stared out at everyone standing in the field. I hadn't drunk as much as I would have liked tonight, especially since Henry had sworn to be the driver. All the party had was beer, and I had never enjoyed the yeasty taste much. But beggars can't be choosers, and since I didn't contribute to the selection, I couldn't complain.

Katy walked up to me and smiled down, "This seat taken?"

I shook my head no and patted the spot beside me. She didn't hesitate and immediately sat down, pulling her legs under her in a cross style. Looking over at her I noticed the tattoos that lined her arms and legs. Her right arm had a sleeve of what looked to be Lovecraftian monsters. I pointed to one that resembled a squid, "Cthulhu?"

She smiled wider, "You like Lovecraft?"

I scoffed, "Does it matter? Even if I didn't Henry would have made sure the stories were crammed down my throat."

She let out a light laugh, a slight pink gracing her cheeks. Lifting a hand, she moved to tuck a stray piece of hair behind her ear. I noticed they were stretched and took another drink of my beer. "You're his dream girl, you know?"

Her face became redder at this and after a moment she looked at me. "He talks about you a lot."

I shrugged and leaned back on my elbows, my dress straightening out over my stomach with the movement. "We were raised like we were siblings. He's the brother I never had, honestly."

Henry's mother was my father's sister. We came from a very successful family, and my father had only continued this success in his own career. My aunt was the rebellious one, she never liked the money. The way the story had been told, she always felt like she lived in my father's shadow. Nothing she ever did would measure up in her parents' eyes to even the mundane things my father would accomplish. She got pregnant with Henry at eighteen, the father was unknown to anyone but her. She refused to tell anyone she had even been pregnant, and a few days after Henry was born, she disappeared. My grandparents stepped up and raised him, my father acting as an impromptu father figure most days.

Katy cleared her throat, "Can I read your cards? Henry told me something weird was happening to you but wouldn't really elaborate."

"Like Tarot cards? You carry a pack with you?" I looked up at her skeptically and she nodded eagerly, "Well?" I took a second to think it over before answering. I didn't believe in much, but the possibility of knowing my future scared me. Perhaps this could help me with some answers.

"Go for it."

She gave me a toothy grin and turned to pull a small box of cards from her pocket. I looked around and saw Henry sitting by the fire, staring at us intently. I smirked and held up my middle finger. He pulled a hand to his chest and pretended to be hurt by the gesture.

Katy held the cards like a fan in front of me, "Okay, pick three."

I took a second to survey the cards, they all looked identical to me and none were 'calling' to me like I figured they should have been. After a moment I picked three cards from the stack and handed them back to Katy without looking at them. She smiled and put the rest back in the small box before laying my three on the dirty concrete between us.

"Do you do this often?" I asked hesitantly. I had suddenly become very nervous and the possibilities. She avoided my gaze and looked down at the cards intently, "I have a few times." She turned the first one over and we were greeted with the picture of a skeleton.

"Oh." She was quiet for a second before continuing, "I mean okay it's not bad at all. This is the death card."

I choked on what was meant to be a small sip of my beer. The liquid flowed out and down my chin, patting it away I sat up straight. "Death isn't bad?"

She shook her head, "not really. It doesn't mean actually dying. Really it just means that you're ending this phase of life and about to enter a new one. It won't be easy, but you'll be fine in the end." I thought hard and could not come up with any reason my life would be changing in the foreseeable future. Summer break had just started and I was pretty sure these things had a time limit on them. They told the future a week or so in advance, not months. "Next card," her voice was soft and she flipped the second card.

This time it was a picture of a lone old man with a staff, standing on top of a white mountain. I raised an eyebrow and looked at her, "so what does this one mean?"

"This is the Hermit card. It means that you want to be told what to do, given some kind of direction in life. You're feeling kind of lonely, maybe isolated right now. You want companionship, maybe an adventure."

I scoffed and threw my head back with a laugh. I didn't want an adventure. I wanted to sleep. I didn't want friends, I had them and still ignored them all. I sighed in relief that this reading was bogus, but nodded for Katy to continue.

"Okay your last card is a…." She paused before continuing. "Magicians card!"

The party had begun to clear out, only a few more people still stood in the field. I noticed Henry began to make his way towards us, throwing his keys around in the air.

I stood up and dusted the dirt off my behind, "So I'll have magic or something?"

She let out a giggle and picked up the cards, shoving them back in the case and standing beside me. "It means that you're entering a period of potential. It's an omen for success."

**A/N: Here it is! Please let me know if there's any errors you've noticed (I've already noticed a few in the first chapter I have to go back and fix), and please leave a review if you would like to! All feedback is welcome! I promise the story will pick up eventually! I just don't want to rush it, and you need a bit of the back story. If you want to really feel the mood of the party, go listen to Blue Monday by Orgy, and maybe Dragula by Rob Zombie. Just to clear some things up: I know the story seems very supernatural right now, but that's not really the way i'm going with it. So don't worry about the whole Alien/demon/tarot card thing. I'm just trying to come up with a logical way someone would try to explain these things, however unlogical it may be.. That being said... Who was standing over Eisley's bed? Who was the tree man in the dream? ;) **


	3. Chapter 3

I groaned and picked up the bikini bottoms that had been left in the fitting room. Today was the beginning of our swimsuit sale, and the customers had been a nightmare. It wasn't enough to complain when we were out of their sizes, a few had to yell at me like it had been some kind of personal attack on them. We had finally reached a calm point in the day; it was just before dinner time and most people had gone home to their families. Glancing at my watch I smiled at the realization that I only had a few more minutes of my shift. Though I hated the big rushes, they were good for passing the time. I walked around clearing all the leftover clothes in the fitting rooms, gracious that it wasn't as much as I had thought.

The dreams continued, but without the figure appearing. The night before the party was the last time I saw it. I took solace in the fact that I was alone again, but a part of me wished it was still with me. It offered something to do, to think about when I was stuck there. The time alone was not an escape for me, but a time for all the troubling thoughts I had suppressed in my waking life to come to the forefront of my mind. I supposed it wasn't so bad. Though the dreams forced me to spend time thinking about sad things, they also gave me a chance to heal.

I walked up to the small office at the front of the store, announcing over the small walkie talkie that I would be clocking out for the day. My boss, Sadie, smiled at me from behind a desk, her short black hair reaching just past her ears. "How was today, Eisley?"

"It wasn't as bad as I would have expected." I put my equipment back on its charging station and walked over to the small row of lockers that lined the wall.

"Really? We have a few more hours until closing and we've already doubled our sales goals." She looked really excited about this, and I knew why. If we could keep surpassing our goals, she would get a big bonus at the end of the summer. I punched the code into my locker, pulling my purse and phone out, offering her a small smile as I turned back to face her completely.

She looked from her computer up at me, her excitement lessening. She shifted uncomfortably a second before speaking up again.

"Are you okay? You haven't been yourself lately." She paused for a moment, glancing between me and the computer, "I mean, you just seem a lot more mellow lately."

The lack of true rest provided from my realistic dreams had finally taken a toll on me, I supposed. As I understood it, sleep was meant for your brain to finally rest after a long day of constantly working. It didn't really get to rest when it was busy creating a whole submersive experience. Or when during said experience it was working through complex problems I didn't feel like I had the energy to think about in real life. I took little naps throughout the day when I could find time, and they were always dreamless. It was a treat I savored.

I shrugged and threw my purse strap over my shoulder, "I guess I haven't really had a chance to get a lot of sleep. Henry has been working on a new project, and he asked me to help." It wasn't a complete lie. Henry had begun to work on a new sketch comedy youtube show with a couple of our other friends, and I had been helping. In fact, I was heading over to his apartment after I left work. But it wasn't the reason for my lack of sleep.

I also knew Sadie would seize to ask questions when the subject of Henry came up. They had gone to high school together and dated for a few short, and from what I know, passionate months. It was a car crash though, and when it ended, they never spoke to each other again. Neither really spoke about it, Henry would immediately change the subject if I asked. I was thankful that Sadie didn't let her past relationship with Henry come between our work relationship. I actually considered her a bit of a friend, and even confided in her a few times.

She grimaced before a smile covered her face, "Oh. I see, well I hope it's fun! I'll let you go. See you Thursday."

I nodded, "Bye Sadie!"

The car ride from the clothing shop to Henry's apartment didn't take long at all. Since getting out of the shop, my car drove like a dream. It had ceased to stall every time I tried to turn it on, and for that I was thankful.

I parked my car and stayed seated for a few minutes, taking the time alone with myself to prepare me for what was to come. I loved my friends, but I didn't feel in the mood to deal with their antics, especially after a long day dealing with people. I was ready to go home, shower, and pass out.

Henry's apartment was nice, and if I had to move out tomorrow, I would choose to move into it. It was two stories, connected to the others only by one lonesome wall. This gave him the opportunity to be as loud as he wanted, as long as he kept it to one side. There where two bedrooms and since he lived alone, he had converted the extra to his own studio. He first moved in here with Eddie, who after a year moved out to live with his girlfriend. Henry never looked for another roommate and I was sure that he didn't want one.

Walking into the apartment I saw Katy seated on the couch with two other women I recognized as being Eddie and Tommy's girlfriends. Looking up from the TV, Katy smiled at me and patted the empty spot next to her, "Free seat if you want to join."

I glanced from her to the TV, noticing Steve Carell's face the second I looked at it. "Oh man, The Office."

A small blonde to the right of Katy spoke up, "I know you can hardly resist." Anna laughed playfully, knowing that it was one of my favorite shows. In the years since she had begun to date Eddie, she really became a part of the group. I couldn't really say the same for Lexi, who sat the farthest away from me, looking at the TV as though it was throwing insults at her. Everyone else seemed to like Lexi enough, but my experience with her was always the same. Nothing impressed her, everything was a chore.

"I would love to, but I'm here to assist the guys," I held up a bag full of body paint and makeup. Lexi threw her hand up passively, not once looking from the screen, "Yeah. Have fun with that."

I decided it was time to make my exit and headed to the spare room, where I could faintly hear heavy metal riffs and laugher. As soon as I opened the door I was greeted by the sight of Eddie standing in the corner of the room, plastic chains wrapped around his neck, mumbling along to the lyrics of the song and staring absently at the sealing. A few feet to the side stood a man I had never seen before. He was leaning with his arms propped against the wall, in only briefs, with a toilet seat around his neck. Tommy was sitting beside him, beating on his ass like they were drums. Henry was closest to the door, observing all of this with a finger to his mouth. He nodded, "And cut!"

"What the fuck is this?"

He threw his hands up and turned to face me, "ah my beautiful cousin." The man with the toilet seat necklace suddenly stood up straight and looked at me nervously. "We were just filming a dream sequence. But it's over now! And you're here! We can get back to the good stuff."

I shook my head, as if it would make what I just saw fade from my memory. From what I had seen, Henry's stuff was good. But this was just bizarre and felt almost childish. I glared at him, walking to set the bag down on a small table off to the side of the room, "I don't think you'll be on Saturday Night Live anytime soon with this." Henry just shrugged and walked over to the camera, turning it off.

"That is besides the point," I heard Tommy's whiny voice. He gestured up at the toilet necklace man, "Have you met Chris?"

Chris, the toilet seat boy, looked very uncomfortable. His hands had come to meet in the front of him, covering what the tight briefs were more than willing to show. His hair was black and sat just under his eyebrows. I don't want to say he had Justin Beiber hair, but he did. If Justin Beiber was older and more sophisticated. His eyes were set deep into his skull, brown staring back at me. His bone structure was to die for, although it could have been the result of how skinny he was, he had cheek bones that could cut you and a jawline that was just as dangerous. He had a bit of facial hair, a beginning of a beard, but I could still see the clear skin underneath.

"Hello, Chris." I smiled at him, wiping the irritation from my cousins' antics off my face.

He bowed his head slightly at me, "Hello… Eisley is it. I've never heard that. It's a very pretty name." I smiled wider at that; my name was very special to me. I had been named after Mos Eisley, a town from Star Wars. My dad was an even bigger nerd than I was, but had decided against naming me Leia, and for that I was thankful.

Chris had an English accent, which I found very interesting and different from the Texan accents that I was always around. "Why are you in Texas?"

He walked close to me, reaching to remove the seat from his neck. "I wanted to pursue my music, I felt as though London had offered me all it could." He leaned it against the wall and bent to pick up a pile of clothes that I assumed where his.

I felt self-conscious now that he was closer to me. He was a very attractive man, and I was thankful that I had thought to put on makeup before I left to work. "But Texas?"

He laughed, "I had family here. It was the easiest. I plan to eventually leave for Los Angeles." He walked out the door, presumably to put on the clothes in the restroom. As soon as the door shut behind him Tommy squealed like a twelve-year-old girl, "Oh you're gonna fuck."

I glared at him, looking around the room. I noticed Henry was standing with his arms crossed, looking like he had just won a war. Eddie was still in the corner and wiggled his eyebrows when our eyes met.

"Wait, is that why I'm here today? You guys wanted to set me up?"

Henry nodded, "It pains me to think of this, you're like my sister, but you need to get fucked."

Eddie walked from the corner of the room and put an arm around me, "We all talked about it. We think your dreams are just brought on from sexual frustration."

I dropped the eyeshadow pigment that I had held in my hand and turned to Henry, "You told them?"

He shrugged sheepishly, "We're all family here."

I was mad, though I didn't know if it was warranted. I didn't really want anyone to know about my dreams. They made me feel crazy, and I was sure when described to other people they made me sound crazier. When I had first told Henry, he swore it would be our secret. "How does me dreaming of a clearing have to do with sex? And what happened to the alien theory?"

Tommy stood, "Nothing. Sex always clears up my problems when my head gets weird though." Eddie nodded in agreement.

Henry began to move the furniture in the room around to prepare for the next scene that needed to be shot. "It's been like eight years since you got fucked, and even then, you've only done it once. You need this," He grunted as the furniture proved to be too hard for him to move on his own.

I pointed a finger at the men in the room, "I don't _need _anything, and I'm not doing anything." Suddenly, the door opened and Chris walked back in. Tight jeans clung to his lean frame, a loose-fitting black t-shirt covering his chest. He gave me a small smile and walked over to Henry, helping him push the small couch back against the wall.

My last relationship had ended a month before I turned twenty, we had only been together for around a year. He wasn't really the sexual type, which I always found to be odd, so we never did more than kiss and occasionally partake in some heavy petting. It turns out, he had been cheating a majority of the relationship. I had lost my virginity about three years before that, with a high school boyfriend, to Family Guy playing in the background. It hadn't been anything I expected, he was rough and I didn't get any pleasure. After that I had honestly lost interest in the act, concluding that it wasn't anywhere near as magical as all the movies made it seem. But now that I was older, I longed to experience it once more. I just didn't see myself finding anyone that I would be comfortable doing it with, and I imagined my self-consciousness would get in the way of me truly enjoying it. Because of that I promised myself I wouldn't get close to anyone or put myself in that situation until I was happy with myself. It was just proving to take a lot longer than I expected.

The rest of the night went by fairly smoothly, and we filmed about thirty minutes of reasonable footage. I had learned that Chris had a sense of humor, and wasn't as awkward as he looked when I first caught sight of him. He also had an edge to him, and was easily able to fire back at the playful insults that would occasionally be thrown his way.

I decided I should head home sometime after midnight, and Chris insisted on walking me to my car. I noticed Henry glance over at us when the suggestion was made, but he quickly feigned disinterest, waving me off.

I threw a pillow at him, "Okay, see you later jerk."

Chris laughed at this and followed me to the door, a hand meeting the small of my back. I stiffened but continued to walk, opening the door. Tommy and Eddie as well as their girlfriends had all left a few hours ago, Lexi had become irritated at staying out so long. Katy was still there though, and I wondered if she would be staying the night. I smiled at her over my shoulder as she came up to close and lock the door behind Chris and I.

We walked in silence before I reached my car, "Well, bye I guess." I cringed at how awkward it sounded, looking up at his face. His skin was pale, and the moonlight bounced off of it. He gave a small laugh and pulled out his phone, "I would like your number so that we could talk more?"

My mouth fell open for a second, shocked that he was actually interested in me. I had some good qualities, but an English musician, with razor cheekbones? He could get worlds better than me. I shook off my insecurities and smiled up at him, "Oh, yeah. Sure."

After the exchange, Chris peered down at me thoughtfully. Leaning over slightly, he planted a soft kiss on the corner of my mouth. It only lasted a second before he pulled away, exposing his white teeth in a toothy grin. I blushed up at him and moved a stray piece of hair from my face, "Bye Chris."

He began to walk backwards away from me, towards his own car. "I'll give you a call soon, Eisley."

I smiled and stood still for a second, waiting until he turned from me completely to bring a hand to my mouth, feeling where his lips had just been. My first kiss in almost five years was not disappointing at all, but sweet and tender.

Getting in my car, I looked up noticing movement in my peripheral vision. I had parked right outside of Henry's apartment, my car facing the window in his living room. From a slit in the blinds I saw Henry's beady eyes staring back at me, and when our eyes met, I lifted my middle finger. His eyes pulled upwards as though he had started to smile.

It didn't take long for me to fall asleep when I finally got into bed. I drifted off to my utopia with ease, letting the feeling of the wind wash over me. I waited a second before I opened my eyes, only to let out a scream at what I saw when I finally did.

A man stood over me, and I recognized him -only from his braids- as the being from the trees. I was glad that he wasn't the monster I had theorized he would be, but at that moment I wished he had been. He jumped back but held his footing, as though he didn't expect me be even be alive but was also prepared in case I was. I noticed his dark eyebrows were pulled together in confusion as he gazed down at me curiously with his head tilted only slightly to the side.

I also noticed how attractive he was. His long hair looked almost silver up close, and not a strand was out of place as it framed his square face. His cheekbones where almost as striking as Chris' but softer. I could have gotten lost in his sea blue eyes had I not been terrified of who they belonged to. I began to wonder if this was Heaven, and some angel was standing before me. He stood up straight and cleared his face of any emotion in only a few seconds.

"Yan naa lle?" Though it sounded like a lullaby, his voice held an authoritative tone that scared me more than I already was. When I didn't reply after a few moments, he repeated himself in a yell, "Yan naa lle!"

I flinched and scooted away from him slowly, trying to understand the words he was saying to me. I worked through my brain, and decided that it sounded like a mixture of French and Italian. Unluckily for me, I only knew a handful of French, and no Italian at all. I began to shake my head when he took a step toward me, "I don't understand!" Up until this moment, I had never spoken out loud when I was in my dream world. I didn't feel a need to as I thought I was alone. A part of me was also nervous that if I did speak, I would immediately wake up or find that my throat wouldn't produce the sounds. So when I was able to scream at the man, I was just as shocked as he looked.

He clenched his jaw and eyed me wearily, "What is your name?"

I let out a relieved sigh at his use of English. At least I was able to understand him, and had a chance at proving I wasn't a threat. Letting out a soft laugh, I pondered the thought. Here I was, in a dream world with a man, worrying about proving to him that I, a young adult woman in only a light dress, was not the threat. It should have been the other way around, but maybe the misogyny experienced in my daily life was just that embedded into my psyche.

"My name is-ah." When I began to say my name, I couldn't breathe. It was as though my throat burned and clenched at and held the air hostage as the word formed within me. After trying for a few seconds, I decided to give up. It had begun to hurt me more each time I pushed myself to speak my name. "I don't think I can say it." He raised one eyebrow, and then nodded slowly.

I decided then was the time to get off the ground, and made a move to stand on my own. The man didn't offer to help but instead stayed planted a few feet away from me, keeping his gaze on my face. The stare didn't break when I had stood fully straight. He studied me carefully, his eyes moving from my head to my toes and back up again. It felt as though I was a dog being rated at some high-class dog show. I didn't like the feeling of being studied, especially not when it was done so openly. Nervously I brought my hands together in front of me and began playing with the sleeves of my dress. "Do you know where we are?" I asked after a few moments.

He nodded, "The forest of my people, just outside our gates. There are few places left here that hold this much life."

My breath caught in my throat. Suddenly all I could think of was Henry and aliens. "Your people?" This was it, the confirmation I was seeking. Though I knew if he said he was an alien, I would write it off as my brain creating a dream out of the idea Henry had fed me in my daily life.

"Elves of Mirkwood. Have you never heard of us?"

My gaze left his face and traveled to his ears. I had only just noticed they were pointed, and cursed myself for overlooking that fact for so long. It started as a small giggle that escaped my mouth, then grew into a soundless laugh that caused tears to flow down my face. I was astounded. Shocked that my brain was able to develop this other world while I was supposed to be asleep. This was how Stephanie Meyer wrote Twilight, how J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter, through ideas that began as dreams. Perhaps if I wrote this down, I could make a name as a world-famous author. I could drop out of graduate school, quit my job as a retail employee and finally move to London like I had always dreamed of. Maybe if I was lucky, I could buy a castle and fill it with cats, never speaking to anyone again much like Enya.

My laughter only irritated the man, and he crossed his arms angrily but stayed silent. After a few more minutes I calmed down, the thought crossing my mind that maybe I had been an elf in this scenario as well. My hair was always down, and my ears were covered by it every time I caught a glance of myself in the small stream. Truthfully, I had tried to stay away from the stream. It gave me an eerie feeling every time I was close to the water. As I began to raise my hands to my ears the man spoke again, "I can assure you that you are no elf."

There was a fire in his voice that burned me the second I heard his words. He meant it as an insult, that much was clear. I let my hands fall back to my sides before they reached their original destination. I took in his appearance once more. His lean but seemingly muscular body that was mostly hidden under layers of clothes, and his angelic face. He towered over me, more so than he did when he was in the trees. Perhaps all 'elves' were this perfect.

I glared at him and spoke softly, "I guess even in my dreams guys are assholes."

He scoffed, "I believe _you _laughed at_ me._" He was quiet for a second more before he continued again. A look of concern washed over his features, "You are dreaming as well?"

"As well?" I became worried. In the small chance that this was real, it was quite strange that I was somehow meeting with some 'elf' that was also dreaming. This was all beginning to feel too much like The Matrix meets Inception, and I wanted no part in either of those scenarios.

"I do not sleep often. I found myself to be in the woods there "-He pointed behind me to the spot where I had first saw him- "a fortnight ago during one of my slumbers. It was unlike any dream I've ever had. The next few nights I forced myself to rest if only for a moment. I found I had no strength here and concluded it was due to the needless sleep. I waited until I would benefit before trying again today."

So, he could only move about in the dreams when he was truly tired. I wondered if this was the same for me, but seeing as though I was always tired, there was no chance I could test this theory out anytime soon. It suddenly made sense why he hadn't been in my dreams, but it didn't explain why we were having them. I grimaced immediately at the thought of 'we'. He wasn't real. This wasn't real. It was a joke. Maybe my brain fulfilling the thirst for adventure I had buried deep inside of me, but it wasn't real. There was no 'we'. There was only me.

He noticed my grimace and his gaze became hard again, "Is there an issue?" It took me awhile to figure out what I was going to say, my mouth opening and closing again.

"Yes, there is. Why am I in your world when I sleep?"

He became confused once more at this, "You are not from Arda?"

I pulled my brows together, my head moved back slightly. I had never heard this word before, and it scared me because it did sound like some of the 'hidden planet' names I had found when I was searching the internet for information on aliens. This realization caused me to panic, "No, I've never heard of it or Mirthwood! Elves are a myth where I am from!"

The man looked offended, "Mirkwood. Once Greenwood the Great."

I threw my hands up and held on to the top of my head. My breathing picked up and I felt my throat begin to close. "When I sleep, I am in a whole new world -one I've never heard of-, and you're worried about how I say a name? You say you are dreaming as well, so shouldn't we be trying to figure out how this is happening instead?"

His expression softened only a little, "I suppose you are correct." He sat down on the ground just under his feet, his legs crossed under him. I looked down at him for a moment, and his gaze met mine expectantly. When I didn't move, he patted the ground beside him, a gesture for me to sit as well.

So I did, but not beside him. I sat down where I was a few feet across from him. He rolled his eyes before he began to speak, "Truthfully, I have never known this to happen. Not even in stories. When I wake up, I will ask my elders if they are aware of such a thing."

"Yea, I've never heard of it either. I've already looked pretty in depth about the lore surrounding dreams where I am from when these began for me. Unlike you, I need rest, and I haven't been able to truly sleep since I've started having these."

He gave me a soft sympathetic smile and I felt my heart flutter before I began to scold myself. Now was not the time to be noticing how attractive the elf was. Now was the time to gather information so that when we woke up, we could find more pieces to this nightmare of a puzzle.

It was silent for a moment before I spoke again, "Why are we in your world and not mine?"

He tilted his head and looked upwards at the sky above us, something I had never thought to do. When I did, I felt like my heart was going to explode. I had never seen so many stars at once. It was the most beautiful night sky I had ever looked at. I realized then that it had been night during all my dreams, not dusk or dawn. The forest itself was giving off the glow I thought was light.

"You said Elves are a myth in your world, I suppose magic is as well?"

I nodded, but knew he was not looking at me so I decided to speak, "As far as I know."

He let out a sigh that was so soft I felt my ears strain to hear it. He looked back down from the sky to me, "Here it is very real. I believe the magic of my world might be at fault."

This was all starting to be too much for me. Everything felt too real. I felt overwhelmed; this dream felt like it was longer than the ones before it. Maybe it was because now I had a companion to share the time with, but it was beginning to worry me. I began to play with my hair, taking it to the side I started to braid it absentmindedly. He raised an eyebrow at me before turning his head back up to the night sky. We stayed silent for a few moments more.

The ground around me started to sparkle, and I became panicked. It can't end now; we hadn't figured anything out. Who knew when he would be tired enough to see me again and tell me what he had learned? A smaller part of me, one I was trying to ignore, was also scared of the thought that I would have to spend more nights in this clearing alone.

Everything went black. It was over.

**A/N: This one is for all the readers but more importantly for RozenMaiden14: Thank you for your review! I appreciate your input- I am trying to show more of Eisley's character when she is in her natural environment, so that when her character begins to develop it holds more weight. I'm trying very hard to avoid a mary sue, as well as the common tropes I have read in LotR fanfics (shamelessly I will admit some of my favorites follow that pattern). I weighed adding Chris into the story for awhile, which is why this update took longer, but I wanted a glaring contrast of how relationships progress on Earth vs Middle Earth. A bit of a _spoiler alert_: He serves a bigger purpose than is initially realized. **

**I've also added a new cover image for this fic. It is how I picture Eisley much later in the story. **

**Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

I banged on the door of Henry's apartment so hard that I felt like my hand would break apart. It was sometime after five in the morning, the sun wouldn't rise for another few hours. Despite the Texas summer heat, I was cold standing outside in just an oversized shirt. The second I had woken up I hopped in my car and rushed to Henry's. My whole body felt stiff, as though every movement took more out of me than the one that came before it.

After a few more moments the door flew open, Henry staring angrily back at me in only a pair of basketball shorts. "Unless something terrible happened, I'll never forgive you for this," he nearly growled at me.

I took a deep breath and pushed past him, entering the apartments living room. I pulled the laptop out of the bag I had hanging from my shoulder and sat down on the small couch. Henry stayed in the doorway for a second more before groaning as he shut and locked the door.

"Is this about your dreams? It's five o'clock in the fucking morning, you couldn't wait?"

I glanced from the laptop's screen that was acting as the rooms only light source and looked up at him. Though his voice sounded angry, livid even, his face was soft. Almost like he felt sorry for me. I squinted my eyes as he turned on the light before walking over to the couch and taking a seat beside me, "Don't look at me like that. I'm not crazy."

He let out a small laugh, "Come on. You're talking to me of all people, I don't think you're crazy. This is just…. inconvenient is all." I nodded and turned my attention back to the laptop which had fully powered on.

Henry waited a moment before continuing, "What ever happened really fucked you up, huh? You hate driving so late." I hated driving past midnight, especially on the weekends. When I was a teenager, my high school shoved anti drinking and driving campaigns down our throats. Of course, this made sure that I would never drink before getting behind the wheel, but it also made me paranoid to venture out at night should I be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"I just learned some new things," I said absently as I began to search through the bag for the piece of paper I had scribbled notes on before leaving my house. Once it was in my hands, I eyed it wearily. My panicked state combined with my fear of forgetting meant that the words I had written down were barely legible. I held the paper up for him to see.

He leaned back in the couch beside me, taking the paper and squinting at it. "Elves? Ada? Mi-rec-wood? Greenwood? What is this?"

"Arda. And it's Mirkwood," I corrected him, typing the word into a search engine. "It's where the guy told me he was from."

Henry's eyes opened wide, "You mean you talked to that _thing_?"

I nodded but kept my eyes on the screen in front of me, feeling myself become more and more irritated as I glanced over page after page and found nothing.

Henry jumped forward and put a hand on my arm, "Are you okay? Did it hurt you?" I pulled my attention away from the computer and looked over at him. It had been a while since I had seen him so concerned about me.

"It was a dream, Henry."

His mouth fell open and then snapped shut, his arm falling from my shoulder. He stood up then, "Okay you need to make up your mind because honestly this is getting very hard for me to keep track of. Do you think it's real or not?"

I didn't know the answer to that question. I was torn between a dream and a reality. The logical side of me believed that my brain was just trying to give me something I longed for that I was lacking in everyday life. Your brain will do anything it can to keep you alive, so maybe my mental health had gotten worse than I thought. Maybe my mind was just trying to help me handle the emotions I felt throughout the day. But I knew in my heart the dreams were real. I felt everything; the wind, the grass under me, the bark of the trees. There was no way my brain held so much talent that it could offer me a virtual reality when I was meant to be asleep. I had never heard the language that the 'elf' spoke in when we first met. I had never heard of a Mirkwood, Greenwood or an Arda. Still, it was easier to say that what I was experiencing was a figment of my imagination. At least until I could find something better.

My voice came out in barely a whisper after a few moments, "It's real. I think it's real. It's just, I meant that I don't think I can actually be hurt in it."

Henry nodded and then walked out of the living room without a word. I took this time to turn my attention back to the device in my lap. I decided to give up on Mirkwood, as well as Greenwood. It seemed that the two searches only offered me information on types of actual wood. Not what I was interested in. I looked down at the paper Henry had laid on the table. Arda.

It only had one result, and I clicked on it immediately. An amateur webpage greeted me, and I sighed at the neon green text on a black background. I felt the couch shift beside me and saw that Henry had returned, carrying his own laptop.

"I found something," as soon as I spoke, he moved closer to me. Noticing he had opened up a word document, I raised a brow in question at him. He shrugged, "For notes."

The site looked more like a blog than a webpage, the title was the same as the sites link, which looked like absolute gibberish, ' '. I clicked on a tab at the top which read, "Meet the Channeler". A video popped up in a new webpage, and a middle-aged man looked back at us. My gut clenched at the site of him, just his appearance gave off an unappealing feeling. He had short strawberry blonde hair and a round face. A pointed nose, smaller than what would be considered normal, sat above a mouth that housed uneven, yellow teeth. He looked as through he was malnourished, his cheeks almost sinking in. When he began to speak, I shivered as Henry voiced a quiet "ew". His voice was grainy and high pitched, and he had a strong British accent. The tone carried an unexplainable maliciousness in it.

"Hello! My name is John Powell. Welcome to _I dass carnen_ dot com, if you are here, I suppose you should know that I track the location of all visitors!" I shared a glance with Henry, thankful that I had allowed him to update my computer a few months back. He had read a story on some form about the deep web and how predators find their victims through IP addresses and insisted I allowed him to make the changes necessary to keep me 'safe'. "Do not fret! I have no ill will, just a simple curiosity for this information.

"If you have found this page, perhaps it is by luck, though I do not believe in such. The gift of knowledge regarding Arda is not one that is handed out by chance. It is a privilege that should not be taken lightly! The goal of this site is to spread the word of my leader through this Earth, so that when the time comes, we are prepared to serve him. It is through Mairon that I know of the information displayed here, and for that I owe him my life. Please, take your time to read the tales, and have a great night!"

The screen went black before the tab was closed. Henry let out a dramatic sigh and started typing the name mentioned on his laptop, "I don't know the fuck kind of demonic-ass-deep-web shit this is but it's kind of creeping me out."

I was quiet for a moment before speaking, "What if Mairon is speaking to me to? What if he's who I met?"

Henry looked at me like I was crazy, "You didn't catch a name?"

"He asked for mine but I couldn't say it. Every time I tried it felt like my throat was closing. I assumed he couldn't either," I turned my attention back to the page.

"I don't want to freak you out, but those types of dudes- the ones that communicate through people like this freak- are never the good guys."

I ignored him and read the information that was displayed in front of me, "'The kingdom of Arda, and that was but a small realm in the halls of Eä, whose life is Time, which flows ever from the first note to the last chord of Eru….'"

I read and Henry took notes for the next hour. We read through the development of Arda, a world in a universe known as Eä. It had been created by a being known as Ilúvatar for the The Ainur. Of course, most of this made no sense to us, but we made note of it anyway.

"I hate that this is only, like, the base level stuff we needed to know," I said with a yawn.

Henry was quiet for a moment before he spoke, "You know this is literally just the fucking bible, right?"

I looked from him to the computer screen, my eyes tired from the strain it took to read the text. It all clicked for me suddenly. I threw my head against the back of the couch, "You've got to be fucking kidding me."

Henry's arm wrapped around my me, his head resting on my shoulder. "It's okay, so a demon known as Mairon is possessing you. Eddie is an ordained minister; we can hold an exorcism. It'll be fun, we can film it. Like Emily Rose."

I glared at him and pushed him off of me. Though the story we had read was a rework of the Christian creation story, it didn't explain everything. We hadn't yet gotten to who exactly Mairon was, or what he was. Was he God? He couldn't be, that seemed to be Ilúvatar. Or an Angel? Lucifer? I rubbed my eyes hard and let out a groan. How did the word Arda even make its way into my brain? I was sure I had never heard it before. And from the looks of the google search, the only other person that had was this, possibly mentally ill, man.

Henry closed his laptop and stood, stretching out his arms with a yawn. I favorited the website and turned off the computer before setting it on the small table in front of me. I stared at the wall for a few minutes, trying to decide what to do next. It was almost seven am, but I was too tired to drive back home. I felt as though I could pass out at any time just sitting there on the couch, I didn't want to chance it in a moving vehicle.

I reached for the remote and turned on the TV, the sound of the morning news immediately gracing my ears.

"The mom whose security camera captured that creepy creature is speaking out today, and she's seriously freaked out." The image on the screen switched to grainy security footage that looked to be taken at night. A figure that looked kind of like Dobby from Harry Potter was struggling to walk next to a car. "This is the driveway in Colorado Springs where Katherine Reyes says the strange figure was recorded frolicking in the dead of night."

"What the fuck is that?" Henry asked. I hadn't realized he had left the room. Keeping my eyes on the TV, the segment continued.

"Social media is going nuts! Some say it looks like an alien, or an elf-"

I heard Henry cackle, "Is that the handsome elf from your dreams? I knew you liked your men weird but this is too much." I reached for a discarded piece of paper that set on the coffee table and threw it at him after crumbling it up. I narrowed my eyes, regretting having mentioned that the elf was abnormally attractive.

"I think it's just a kid," I said after a few seconds. The news had switched to an early morning weather report, having run out of details on the strange creature.

Henry shrugged, "Cryptids like this are spotted all the time and nothing ever happens. Eddie and I saw a weird one in the woods out by the lake a few months ago."

Before I could ask, Henry handed me a pillow he had retrieved from his room, as well as a blanket. "I don't care about chivalry; you're sleeping on the couch. It's what you get for waking me up."

I snatched it from his hands, "I don't want to sleep in your dirty ass bed anyway, when was the last time you washed it?"

He turned and began walking to his room, "I honestly don't remember!"

A few days passed and I was alone in the clearing each night. I found myself disappointed when I would wake in the new world and the elf wasn't there. I wanted to ask him if he knew who Mairon was, and what he could have to do with it. I remembered he had mentioned that he didn't sleep often, and was only able to present himself in the dreams when he was truly exhausted. I wondered how long it would take until I saw him again. The longer we went in between meetings, the longer these dreams would continue. I didn't want to wait another week to see him again.

I didn't worry over Chris much, he never called me. Just a few texts here and there. I would humor him when my phone lit up at random points through the day, but when he wouldn't respond for hours I didn't fret. I wasn't one to play chase with a man just because he was cute. It wasn't my thing. I had been alone for so long. I was comfortable in the silence. He did, however, mention that he was coming to the crew's comedy gig the coming Monday.

I was nervous to see the others in a crowd setting, knowing that they would question me over the British boy. Not only that, but I wasn't looking forward to seeing how far the news of my dreams had spread. I felt like a crackpot enough just telling Henry, I didn't want to know how it was going to feel with all my friends asking questions about it. The night we found the website, Henry had sworn to me he wouldn't tell anyone any more about them. "You never hear of this shit making anyone's lives better when they start talking about it," he had said. I was relieved that should the topic come up again Henry would back me up by saying it was all just a joke that crashed before it landed.

He had taken almost more of an interest in researching Arda and Mairon than I had. I would get random phone calls all throughout the day, and more annoyingly the middle of the night, detailing something he found interesting that he had learned. His favorite story so far had been the story of the fall of Melkor.

It was essentially the tale of Satan's fall from grace. He had been the greatest of the Ainur, until he defied the will of Ilúvatar. He then swayed some of the other Ainur to fall with him and went on to roam Arda. I had grown up with this story, and it wasn't the story that bothered me. It was how John, or Mairon, had decided to tell it. If I hadn't grown up knowing the base material, I would have felt sorry for Melkor. It was told as though Ilúvatar was a cruel being, that did not long for the peace his creation, Melkor, wanted for Arda.

Henry had pointed this out, "It's like they want you to feel bad for the evil dude. Like he's Loki and his daddy didn't love him as much as Thor and that's why he's a piece of shit."

There had been brief mention of Elves. Not nearly as much as I would have liked to know, however. They one of the two races that were considered the Children of Ilúvatar, alongside men, that lived on Arda. Of course, Melkor only wanted the best for them, and when they fought against his _love,_ he had been forced to fight back. After a couple of battles, he was forced into chains and thrown into something called 'The Void'.

I didn't buy it for a second. Not once did the blog mention _why _the elves didn't want his help. It all seemed so biased, and I wanted to know more. But the blog had been limited on history and flourishing with blatant propaganda. I couldn't really imagine how many other people were actually seeing this site, but I wondered if the creators were reliant on people that were easily swayed without putting much thought into things. I had a weird feeling that it was meant for me.

"I wish they would have taught this version in bible study," I said looking over at Henry. It was Sunday night, and he had come over after a long day of rehearsing his routine for his show the next day, and we had turned the spare bedroom of my father's house into something out of noir film from the 50's. "I wish elves existed here, it would be so cool," I said tacking up a printed-out picture of Link from Legend of Zelda.

On a plain wall we had put up notes, starting with the date my dreams first began and what was in them, all the way up until a note card that read, 'alone again August 10th- '. We also had a spot designated for the history of Arda as we had learned it. Henry insisted on connecting everything with a red piece of yarn for aesthetic purposes. He also added pictures, all of which had been enhanced by him in photoshop. My father walked in about half way through us setting it up, and only raised an eyebrow when Henry assured him it was for an acting job he was working on.

"Like, I've always wanted to live on Asgard or something. I imagine it's like Monty Python and the Holy Grail but better," I continued on.

Henry had his laptop in his arms as he was pacing around the room, studying the blog. He stopped for a second and turned to me, "Doesn't Norse mythology have nine realms?"

I nodded, having always been a mythology buff, I constantly found myself wishing to tag along in the tales of different culture's Gods. My favorite fantasies had taken place in the world of Norse mythology. I found myself enjoying the tales more than I did Greek or Egyptian. Our grandmother was a German immigrant, while our grandfather was raised in Norway. The stories were practically forced down our throats as children, not that Henry nor I minded the violent nature of most of them. When the Thor movies had come out, Henry dragged me along to see them all opening night with him. Though neither of us where fans of how the myths were changed to "fit Hollywood", as Henry would say, but it was still enjoyable to see the fantasy world of our childhoods come to life.

He sat down on the bed and closed the laptop, "What if that's like, actually true?"

I stared at him for a few moments before walking and taking a seat next to him. "You think this is Norse Mythology but real? Wasn't the realm that had elves called Alfheim? And this guy said that Arda had men on it to."

He shook his head, "I don't think it's that. But what if there actually are other realms besides the one we are on? …In? ... I don't know."

"You think I'm somehow dreaming my way into another world?"

Henry shrugged and fell back on the bed, "I don't see why that can't be an option. Who said this God dude had to make only one world?"

I raised an eyebrow, "Why me though? Why am I the one that sees into it?"

"That's the real question, huh?" He was quiet for a moment more before getting up to gaze at the wall. "What if this isn't supposed to be happening at all?"

"Regardless of if it's supposed to happen or not, I don't want it." I got up and stood behind Henry.

We spent another few hours researching the theories behind multiverses and trying to find clues on how and why this could be happening. Everything I found was only circumstantial evidence, 'what if' scientific theories. They didn't offer much help to my current situation. When Henry finally left just before midnight, he promised to spend more time researching it on his own.

"Don't worry about it," I said walking him to the door. "You have a big day tomorrow!"

With this his face lit up. I felt like a terrible friend to him. So much was happening in his career, yet he spent as much time as he could helping me research this weird dream land. I felt like I needed to put more time and energy into him. Growing up, Henry had always been my backbone. Even when he needed someone to be there for him, he would put his needs aside and aid me. Any time he saw that I was struggling, he was by my side. Even at 25, I still didn't feel like I had ever returned the favor to him. I didn't know how.

"I'm so excited!" He turned and gave me a hug, "Be at the venue about five tomorrow, text me when you're there and I'll let you in!"

Once he was gone, I made my way to my room and got comfortable in my bed. There wasn't much for me to do, as I had already gone through my nighttime routine before Henry had even come over. I wasn't expecting him over tonight at all, but he insisted that we meet up and create the "conspiracy board".

Within a few moments I had fallen asleep. The clearing looked and felt the same as it always did. I stretched and made a move to stand when a voice startled me.

"It took you long enough, I thought you had found a way out."

I turned to see the elf leaning against a tree, his weight rested on one leg while the other was bent, his foot on the trunk.

"I wish," I said walking over to him. There was a soft breeze tonight, and small strands of his hair were floating in the air around his face.

"I found nothing." He spoke before I reached him and pushed himself off of the tree. He walked towards me, closing the gap between us.

I felt my shoulders fall as I stopped. I was hoping that he would have learned something of importance, that maybe he was three steps ahead of me in this situation. After all, his world was the one with the magic. His world was responsible for this. Someone had to know something.

He sat down on the ground directly underneath him and I followed, sitting about two feet away. He looked off into the space ahead of us, his eyes seemed unfocused, as though he was deep in thought. "I found some things out," I spoke quietly.

He tilted his head just an inch to the side and glanced over at me, before fixing his gaze ahead of him. "Well go on," he spoke. "We know not when our meeting will be cut short."

This was something I hadn't thought of, and I was glad that he had brought up the abrupt way our last meeting ended. I nodded and began to speak quickly, "Okay well my cousin and I found this website- Do you know what that is? Like a book, I guess. Anyway, some guy had the creation of Arda written out, all of it. We haven't made it all the way through though, so I don't know everything. I'm sure you do. Anyway, it's weird that he knows it because, like, this isn't a thing in my world. He said that Mairon-"

In less than a second the elf had stood, pulling me with him by my arms. He held my arms so tightly that it stung, making my eyes water. His eyes were bulging out of his head, and at first glance you would think he was livid, but if you looked hard enough you could see fear deep within his eyes. "Did you say Mairon?" His voice was low, and sounded very threatening. It was unlike anything I had ever heard before, almost predatory.

My voice caught and I felt my throat begin to close up, signaling the beginning of a panic attack. I tried to control my breathing but found that it was easier to give in and let myself take quick, shallow, breaths. "I don't know who that is it was just that the guy that wrote the book I found said that's who told him about it," my words came out faster than before, and I couldn't figure out how the elf understood them. He eyed me for a second before I spoke again, "Please let go of my arms, you're hurting me." A tear fell from my eye.

He let go but did not move away, "You don't know Mairon? You are in no contact with him?"

"No!" I nearly screamed, "You're the only person from that world that I've ever even talked to! I don't even believe you're real."

From the elf's reaction, I gathered that my initial feelings on Melkor were correct. He wasn't the good guy, and that Mairon was somehow connected to it. Still, that didn't mean that the elf could manhandle me. I was surprised that he was even able to touch me within a dream. I had always imagined that if we were to ever try, our hands would float through each other's bodies like ghosts in movies. It scared me. He was obviously a lot stronger and faster than I was, and if he thought I was a threat he could take me out in a second. It didn't seem like he spent much time thinking about his decisions regarding it either.

The air around us began to sparkle, and this time I was relieved by it. The elf, however, looked panicked.

"Do not speak of your dreams," he said quickly. "Do not speak to anyone by that name. I am to leave on a quest a few hours after sunrise. I know of a man that may know more, there is a chance we might cross paths."

He continued to speak, but his voice faded into silence. I could see his mouth moving, but as the world around me began to dim, he went with it.

**A/N: Here it is! I am sorry that it took so long to get out, but unlike Eisley I am taking summer classes and working a full time job. I also had a hard time writing this chapter, as it is all starting to feel a bit repetitive to me, and I know it is to you guys as well! We just _have _to set the scene. I have gotten several messages, as well as a review, that asks what 'GIME' means. It means 'girl in middle earth', at least that is what I have seen it used as and that is how I am using it. Eisley will get there very very _very soon. _I am dying for her to be there just as much as everyone else, trust me! **

**Thank you to everyone for the reviews and follows. Please leave a review if you enjoy this, and if you don't... leave one to tell me what I'm doing wrong! **

**Timeline of Eisley: **

**July 15****th**\- Dreams begin.

**July 24****th**\- Able to move around the clearing, hears a voice.

**July 27****th**\- Tree man first seen.

**August 2****nd**\- Attends a pasture party, has her cards read.

**August 9****th**\- Talks to the tree man, learns he is an elf. Finds the blog.

**August 18/19****th**\- Multiverse Theory arises. Tells elf of Mairon.


End file.
